Hello everyone !

So, i am french, male, 34yo.

As you may know, Europe has only a handful of cars that are not 4 pots. And i don't intend to buy a V8 car either, because they are rather expensive, and i already have a nicely build chassis; so i intend to drop one!

Right now my toy car is a nissan 200sx S13, which is called 240sx in the USA, but has a 1.8L turbo engine as oem (CA18DET). I use it to have fun, gripping actually, not much of a drifter. Ok sometimes i do drift a bit, in the rain, but i am not a fan of making big angles and scrubbing walls. I like walls when they are far from me, and there is a sand/gravel pit and tire walls between me and them.

I tinkered with it a lot, more with the chassis than the engine; new turbo, header, intercooler, injectors, MAF, e85 fuel, and i do my own tunes, but now i am at the limit of what the stock short block can take, and so is the gearbox. It has approx. 300HP, which in a 2000lbs car is already fun enough. Still, i want more ...

Taking it to the next step reliably requires a stronger gearbox, and to forge that engine... so i thought "why not just swap that engine and trans out for something else ?"

I am still undecided on what to do. Rebuild, or swap ? I need to try cars with the engines i want, and see what their weak points are (reliability, availability, power delivery, and so on). So far i am still undecided between the turbo inline 5 from volvo, an inline 6 from a TVR, or ... some NA american muscle

I already tried the volvo engine, it is quite fun and sounds very good, but ... price and availability... hurts. The 4L straight 6 from TVR is even harder to find and said to be the most unreliable engine in the world, so it might be out too. Another turbo straight 4 ? Meh. If i do swap, i am not putting that in. Or maybe a VQ35 from nissan, but it is seriously low on the HP gain/€€ ratio.
Finally, i have a friend with a camaro z28, who i need to visit to get a taste of its lightly tuned LS1
The problem is its lack of availability too, so if i want one but can't get one in Europe, i guess i may source it from here ...


Right now i am looking for standard infos on which engine and trans i can swap in, recommended mods and so on. To be honest i have been reading this board for quite some time already, but did not feel like posting before getting some info first.

From what i have heard, i need a rear oil sump and transmission from an F-body; if i want high comp it means 241/243 heads. I don't know which cam, but it needs uprated pushrods and springs. Injector wise, i don't know if i can use the stock ones before running them at 100% duty on e85. If you have any advice on that, it would be appreciated. Also, no truck engine as various brackets won't fit in the engine bay. I don't know what engine management to use, but it looks like the oem one can be modified just like the CA18DET one when using a nistune, so i should be ok with that.

I don't plan on getting massive power, so i think i'll just go with high compression heads, cam, e85 and supporting mods. I guess this should give like 400/450WHP or more, which will be well enough me. I like my engines to rev, the screame of a turbo 4 pots that goes from dull under 2500rpm to bouncing off the rev limiter at 7500 in a flash is really something

I guess i can't get that feeling from a 2 valves/cylinder engine though... i'd reallly like it to rev to 7000 safely, and that the engine still has power and is willing to go there. Of course I need to try one first, maybe the instant torque delivery can change my heart.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, and see you around

 

Greetings fellow car enthusiast! Welcome to LS1tech. I'm not an expert on LS engine swaps, I can only advise you to look into the Hybrids/Swaps section on this forum. The standard ECM from a 1999 or newer Z28, Camaro SS, Firebird Formula, Trans Am, or Firehawk will work for your needs (1998 units are different) as will Chevrolet / GMC "pickup truck" or van ECM's.

 

Thanks, i am going to check that section. I know some companies already offer engine and transmission mounts and long headers that fit the s13, so there should not be a lot of fab work. If i do swap an LSx in there, i'll try to source a full engine / trans / ECM / wiring loom (and accelerator pedal if needed).

Maybe the hardest that i will have to do is hammer the firewall and trans tunnel to let the engine in as far back as possible. I work as an embedded software engineer, and am not very fond of sports, so not much mucles there :o

 

Sounds like you have a nice car, you should post some pics.

 

The paint is still the one it had when new in 1992, and the trunk has been welded to remove the rust, then spray painted, so it is not that pretty. But it is functionnal

The nicest one i have is this one:



Then some track action:
me locking the rear thinking "WTH is the rear locking"


Followed of course by a little off course line


on the track , rear view:


At Pau Arnos, main straight, passing someone :


blind left hand hairpin :


Straight following the hairpin (yes it is wet. Yes, the background is a fast downside blind right hander leading to the hairpin, and you can't lift throttle once you are in ! )


side exhaust:


Front chassis (i replaced the steering rack and removed the spacers), has Def wilwood 2 piece brake kit, keisler suspension, fortune auto coilovers:


A little shot of my exhaust / turbo side, with recirc :



And as a bonus, my previously mint full options supra mk3:


I am afraid i don't have many more of them, i either drive it or work on it, someone else always take pics

 

So ... i should be able to try a 2001 stipped camaro saturday. This should really help me decide what to do

 

Just go all the way and put an ls7 in it with an electric cutout. Watch the supercar drivers eyes burst to the size of dog ***** when you roll up beside them. I so want to ship my car to Europe to do some touring, crack open the headers and drive through Paris at 3 in the morning.

 

Nice pictures! I'm sure you will do well in sourcing parts and building your car. One of the things that make LS1 engines so great is that you can add CNC machine ported heads, a camshaft specified by an expert, good exhaust, and tune and have 440 rear wheel horsepower with stock crankshaft, rods, and pistons using a stock LS6 intake.

 

Welcome. A good thread for reference:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...x-v8-swap.html

 

Welcome! If you are who I suspect you are, I have seen you around on MotoIQ and Zilvia.net before. I just joined recently to bolster my knowledge for the S14 LSx swap that I'm working on.

 

The only OEM sump from a LSx that will work in a 200sx/240sx is the LS1/LS2 GTO front sump oil pan. Even that pan does not work without modification, it requires part of the front crossmember to be cut out and boxed so the pan can occupy the same space.

Holley performance has a well priced solution that does not involve sectioning the crossmember. They offer swap mounts, oil pan, and headers specifically for putting any LSx into a Nissan S-Chassis. They offer the parts through their sub-brands Hooker and Canton.

Canton has a great bolt on oil pan that accomodates the engine swap and requires no modification to the front engine crossmember.

Hooker offers 2 things, swap headers for the S-chassis, and they also offer engine and trans mounts (I think they only offer mounts for the S14 but they could probably be made to work with S13)

7000 RPM is no problem as long as you still make power up there, upgrade valvesprings, lifters, and rod bolts and you should be safe.

Stock injectors will be beyond maxed out with a Cam and E85.

Wiring specialties offers an off-the-shelf harness to make wiring pain free.

Feel free to PM me with any questions I have been looking into this swap for awhile. I can help point you to some solutions.

 

First, thanks to everyone for the welcome and infos !
I am also going to need transmission infos, like how strong the T56 are, or if there are things to mod to make them (somewhat) reliable. I already had to rebuild one gearbox and fear i need to do it again, and that is also a reason i am considering a swap.

While i'd like to put an LS7 in there, cost is also an issue Can't wait for tomorrow though. I just hope it won't rain too much for that camaro run.

Cracking open the headers at 3AM in Paris WILL attract a lot of unwanted attention. Either from cops or the wrong crowd; either way, your night will end up in at a police station, without your car (stolen or seized, your choice). France has become a bad place to drive anything that is not diesel and/or in stock form :/


I may be
Full nickname is croustibat, but it has absolutely no meaning outside of France and must be a pain to say, so i shortened it. It is a reference to a (pompous) ad that was broadcasted maybe 15 years ago here.

I try not to post too much on zilvia, people there drive me crazy. Most of them only care about scratching their frame rails on the ground using the worst and cheapest garbage they can find, and bling parts. MotoIq and Nrr are something else, and this place seems to have more smart people too